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Olympic medals for the best Rangers draft picks, round by round

By Steve Paulus

Rangers Brian Leetch gets the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP following game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals at Madison Square Garden June 14, 1994. The Rangers won the game 3-2 and the Stanley Cup.Rangers Win Stanley Cup
Rangers Brian Leetch gets the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP following game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals at Madison Square Garden June 14, 1994. The Rangers won the game 3-2 and the Stanley Cup.Rangers Win Stanley Cup /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 08: (l-r) Jeff Beukeboom and Sergei Zubov of the New York Rangers Stanley Cup winning team of 1994 attend a ceremony prior to the Rangers game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on February 08, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers were celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Stanley Cup win in 1994. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 08: (l-r) Jeff Beukeboom and Sergei Zubov of the New York Rangers Stanley Cup winning team of 1994 attend a ceremony prior to the Rangers game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on February 08, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers were celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Stanley Cup win in 1994. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Fifth round picks

Gold: Sergei Zubov (1990)

Silver: Aaron Miller (1989)

Bronze:  Gord Smith  (1969)

Honorable mentions:  Scot Kleinendorst (1980), Dale Purinton (1995), Nigel Dawes (2003)

Future medalists?:  Lauri Pajuniemi (2018), Brett Berard (2020)

The fifth round really turns into a crapshoot and while there are opportunities to find a diamond in the rough, most picks never make it to the NHL.  The Rangers have picked 58 players in the fifth round and 19 have played at least one game in the NHL (and two of them played only one game).

The diamond in the rough was Sergei Zubov, the first (and last) Ranger draft pick to make the Hall of Fame after Leetch and Park.  Aaron Miller takes the silver medal for playing 677 NHL games and someone named Gord Smith takes the bronze for making it to the big show for six seasons.

What you didn’t know about Gord Smith was though the defenseman played his entire career with the Capitals, he was drafted by the Rangers, but they never bothered to sign him. By the way, he had a much more famous little brother, Billy Smith of the Islanders.

Kleinendorst is notable for making it to the NHL unlike his younger brother Kurt who was also drafted by the Rangers.  Purinton was a tough customer who piled up 571 penalty minutes in four seasons in New  York.  We included Nigel Dawes not for his work in the NHL, but for the fact that he has been one of the best players in the KHL for years.

We do have high hopes that Pajuniemi and Berard can knock Miller and Smith off the  medal podium.

Next up is the sixth round where the Rangers have found some success.

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